A new study from a golf simulator company, Foresight Sports, reveals vacation spots where golfers can get the best experience of their favorite hobby.
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Florida’s Streamsong resorts provide hotel rooms at just $89 per night, almost 5 times cheaper than premium options at the top.
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The most talked-about golf destination is St. George in Utah, which is looked up online over 12K times each month.
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In San Diego and Carlsbad, California, visitors can play golf almost all year round, with 313 playable days.
The study looked at five key factors that create a well-rounded golf experience: course quality, course supply that shows how private the experience is, playable climate, pricing, and the online demand for each destination. The research considered average monthly Google searches specifically for golf-oriented vacations and not just the general interest in each destination. The final Golf Vacation Index ranks vacation spots on a range of 1-100, with 100 being the best possible option.
Here’s a quick look at the best golf destinations in the US:
|
Destination
|
State
|
Golf Vacation Index
|
Course Quality Score
|
Average Monthly Golf Searches
|
Destination Grade Courses
|
Golf Playable Days Per Year
|
Median Hotel Price Per Night
|
|
Streamsong
|
Florida
|
100
|
448
|
8100
|
33
|
249
|
$89
|
|
Pebble Beach / Monterey
|
California
|
97.4
|
460
|
9900
|
17
|
265
|
$136
|
|
Pinehurst
|
North Carolina
|
92.4
|
618
|
8100
|
37
|
248
|
$214
|
|
Las Vegas
|
Nevada
|
90.3
|
266
|
9900
|
37
|
235
|
$157
|
|
Maui (Kapalua/Wailea)
|
Hawaii
|
88.5
|
160
|
3600
|
13
|
290
|
$116
|
|
San Diego / Carlsbad
|
California
|
86.7
|
75
|
4400
|
55
|
313
|
$224
|
|
St. George
|
Utah
|
84.9
|
153
|
12100
|
15
|
215
|
$120
|
|
Hilton Head Island
|
South Carolina
|
84.3
|
146
|
6600
|
43
|
263
|
$420
|
|
Kiawah Is. / Charleston
|
South Carolina
|
82.9
|
187
|
5400
|
27
|
254
|
$356
|
|
Myrtle Beach
|
South Carolina
|
82.5
|
61
|
5400
|
82
|
243
|
$193
|
You can find the full report findings by following this link.
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Streamsong, Florida
Streamsong Resort is America’s favorite golf destination, with the most affordable prices on the list. The hotels in the area offer rooms for just $89 a night, and 71 golf courses to choose from. Over 40 of those are publicly accessible, and three are nationally ranked courses. At the same time, it’s not as crowded as other destinations in the top 10, as it’s looked up by 8.1K each month.
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Pebble Beach and Monterey, California
In 2nd place are Pebble Beach and nearby Monterey, where golf can be enjoyed even longer than in Florida, with 265 days suitable for a match. There are 30 golf courses there, and almost two-thirds are publicly accessible. Five of those got a national ranking. The hotels for a vacation stay are a little more expensive than around Streamsong, at $136 a night, but there are more options to choose from, with 65 accommodations.
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Pinehurst, North Carolina
Pinehurst ranks third, with the highest golf quality score in the ranking, at 618. It comes from 43 easily accessible golf courses, 6 nationally ranked spots, and third place in the national ranking. The competition for accommodations here is high, though, and 10 nearby hotels charge around $214 per night.
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Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas also makes the list of the best destinations for a golf vacation. The city offers 59 courses, and similarly to Pinehurst, 43 are not limited by private status. Three courses in Las Vegas got into a top-100 national ranking, and there are plenty of accommodation options to choose from. There are over 750 hotels near the golf courses, which charge $157 per night on average.
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Maui, Hawaii
Maui takes fifth place as the most picturesque vacation spot on the list. It has the best golf weather on the list, with 290 days perfect for a match. Thirteen out of 20 golf courses can be easily booked by a tourist, and two got into the top-100 ranking among US courses. Nearby accommodations are also more affordable than one could expect, charging $116 for a night’s stay.
“Pebble Beach charges around $600 for a single round, and it’s one of the most expensive public tee times in the country. The golf is genuinely world-class, but a significant portion of what people are paying for is the Pacific Ocean backdrop and the bucket-list status. What makes San Diego and Maui stand out is their reliability: almost no one goes home with a booking wasted because it rained for 2 out of 4 days. And this matters more than an ocean view,” a Foresight Sports spokesperson commented.
